Vacuum tube socket



VACUUM TUBE SOCKET Filed Aug. 4, 1935 Jill-Z 072 AZaZe-n INVENTOR ATT NEY Patented May 5, 1936 PATENT OFFICE VACUUM TUBE SOCKET Milton Alden,

Application August 4,

2 Claims.

In modern radio sets the cost and size have become such important factors that unforeseen difficulties have arisen in the construction of sockets and especially for tubes having a large number of prongs where necessarily the prongs are close together. I have accordingly sought to construct a socket which can be made economically and which is compact and at the same time efiective.

I have particularly sought to provide convenient means for guiding the tube prongs into the socket especially for such sockets as employ shields which are sometimes required by the underwriters.

I have also sought to provide a locating ring for indicating the proper position for inserting the prongs of a tube.

Another object is to provide an effective form of contact which can be made economically and which will insure a maximum spacing of the metallic parts of the adjacent contacts.

Another object is to provide a contact which can be readily wired by the usual factory soldering methods without danger of injuring the contacts or clogging them up with solder.

In carrying out the invention I accordingly employ a locating ring formed of insulating material and which may have a selecting lug or projection and may also carry numbers, letters or other indices representing the proper location of the respective prongs.

The body of the socket is preferably formed of a number of layers of insulating material. The upper layer is perforated to receive the prongs of the tube and the lower layer is perforated to receive the contacts which are held in alignment with the openings in the upper layer. Each contact is preferably in the form of a partial tube or trough capable of engaging the sides of an inserted prong along three lines. These contacts are provided with small flanges adapted to be clamped between the two layers of insulation. The rear end of each contact is provided with a soldering lug which is reversely bent and perforated to receive the end of a wire and accommodate a drop of solder.

Fig. 1 is a front view of a socket embodying one form of my invention.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the same.

.Fig. 3 is a bottom plan view showing some of the contacts in place and one contact omitted.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the preferred form of contact.

Figs. 5, 6 and 7 show difierent modifications of the locating ring.

Brockton, Mass.

1933, Serial No. 683,574

Fig. 8 is a side view of one form of socket of my invention showing a panel support and shield in section.

The upper layer l0 and the lower layer I l of insulating material may be suitably secured togather, as for instance by one or more rivets l2. The locating ring l3 may also be of insulating material and suitably secured in place directly or indirectly to the other insulating layers, as for instance by one or more of the rivets l2. Inthe form shown the socket is secured to a metal panel M.

The upper layer of the socket is provided with a number of openings 15 of a size and number to accommodate the prongs of the particular tube for which the socket is designed.

The lower layer is provided with passages [6 arranged in alignment with the passages [5 but shaped to accommodate the contacts such as shown in Fig. 4.

Each contact in the preferred form is formed of sheet metal and has an upright main shaft or post portion ll with side wings l8, l8 forming between them a passage for a prong. These side wings are bent so as to snugly fit the sides of the passages i6 when the contacts are inserted in place.

Lugs l9 and 20 extend at substantially right angles to the adjacent parts of the contact and are clamped between the adjacent surfaces of insulating layers I0 and H so as to hold the contacts securely in place but permit them to yield somewhat so as to accommodate the tube prongs and permit slight yielding and self alignment.

The rear end of each contact is provided with a grooved lug having side walls 2i and 22 which are bent outwardly. Each lug is provided with an opening 23 which may be of pointed fan shape or V-shape so as to accommodate wires of different size and ensure good soldering connection. These lugs it will be seen extend radially outward from the center of the socket and lie close to the insulating layer H so that a minimum amount of space is taken up and there is a maximum spacing between the adjacent contacts. A wire can also be clamped between the side walls 2| and 22.

Although I have shown a contact with a perforated lug for making a wire connection, it should be understood that the lug may be formed in other ways-for instance, the lug may have split fingers 34 (as in Fig. 8) between which a wire can be conveniently slipped and held temporarily to facilitate soldering.

This general construction of contact makes it possible to mount a large number in a limited space and still provide a maximum spacing between the conducting parts.

These contacts may be inserted through the back plate II from the ,front and the lugs 2|, 22 bent over afterwards or they may be inserted from the back by first pinching the wings I8-l8 together so as to permit the lugs 20, to pass through the openings in the back plate. It is possible to insert these contacts either before the various layers making up the socket are assembled, or after the assembly operation if the material employed for these layers be flexible enough to allow lugs 20, 20 to partly separate the layers and enter therebetween.

The locating ring I3 is preferably provided with a projection of some sort, such as the finger 24, which is adapted to project between two adjacent prong passages, as for instance the passage for the filament prongs. This makes it possible for one to readily determinev by feeling alone the location of the filament contacts. It is thus possible to readily insert the tube in its proper position even when the socket is guarded by a shield 33 of conventional character (Fig. 8).

The locating ring may also be provided with indicating marks such as the numbers I, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 or other marks predetermined by any suitable code to indicate which connection will be found through the adjacent hole. Similar numbers may be provided on the back to facilitate wiring. a

The locator ring may be colored to denote special adaptations. So also the finger 24 or a special part of the ring may be distinctively colored to act as a signal to assist in finding the proper holes for the prongs when the socket is mounted in a dark place or obscured from view.

These locating rings may be in various forms as, for instance, in Fig. 5 where the ring 25 is provided with a central crossbar 26 leaving spaces on either side for the respective prongs.

In the form shown in Fig. 6 the ring 21 has a central projection 28 leaving a groove 29 for positioning the tube prongs.

In the form shown in Fig. 7 the ring 30 is provided with a positioning finger 3| and may have a hole 32 for the passage of an anchorage rivet. The rings of Figs. 5 and 6 may be similarly seserve as an aid in positioning the prongs of a' tube base when inserting it in the socket.

The identification oi the individual contacts and the corresponding openings as for instance by the numbers I, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 greatly facilitates wiring and also tracing the circuits and for use in the so-called point to point resistance method of checking or analyzing the circuits of a radio set.

The coloring of the projection 24 or other part with a distinctive color or light reflecting paint or the like affords convenient and easy means for locating the tube in the socket.

I claim:

1. A vacuum tube socket having low electrostatic capacity comprising two layers of insulation having openings respectively arranged in alignment for the tube prongs and contact members extending through the respective openings between the layers, at least one of said contact members having an integral soldering lug at the end thereof which is most distant from the insulation reversely bent to bring the lug close to the rear layer.

2. A vacuum tube socket comprising two layers of insulation having openings respectively arranged in alignment for the tube prongs and contact members extending through the respective openings in the rear-layer and provided with lugs clamped between the layers, at least one of said contact members having a main stem and resilient side wings and an integral soldering lug reversely bent to bring the lug close to the rear layer, said main stem and side wings flexing about axes parallel to the tube prongs.

MILTON ALDEN. 

